As part of the annual conference of the NRA, Romney also praised the Republican congressman Darrell Issa and Sen. Chuck Grassley same political sign to keep public pressure on the Obama administration for the controversial operation.

“And I applaud the leadership of the NRA for being the first to ask the Attorney Holder is dismissed or resigns,” he said the Republican applause from those attending the forum held in St. Louis Missouri.

Before his speech, the executive director of the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) of the NRA, Chris Cox, asked its members to vote in elections for “fire” President Barack Obama and Attorney General Holder.

“President Obama should fire Eric Holder and we must dismiss the president in November,” he said Cox.

Before hundreds of its members, the overwhelming majority of men and women average age of the white race, Cox blamed the Obama administration for allowing the passage of illegal arms into the hands of Mexican cartels in drug trafficking.

“The Obama administration put gasoline in a fire death in our southwest border, but to cover up their steps blamed the NRA, its members and the Second Amendment,” he said, referring to the amendment protects gun ownership in America .

Cox reported that none of the officials of the Bureau of Alcohol, Snuff, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) involved in “Fast and Furious” has been dismissed and joked that, on the contrary, at least one was promoted.

Also criticized some of the major U.S. media, including CNN, ABC and CBS, have barely covered the controversial operation.

“That is a disgrace. But the NRA has covered the story and I promise: We will not stop, “he stated to the cheers of the audience.

The forum was attended by two leading critics of the Obama administration in connection with the operation “Fast and Furious”, the chairman of the Oversight Committee of the House of Representatives, Darrell Issa, and Republican Senator Chuck Grassley.

Besides Romney was invited former President of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich and former Republican senator from Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum, who suspended their search for the presidential nomination last week.

Among those attending the forum were also the leader of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, Eric Cantor and the governors of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, and Louisiana, Bobby Jindal.

The NRA is the largest national organization of defense of freedom for the possession of weapons and claims to have over 4.3 million members.

“The impact of possible shocks differs in several places outside the region. Central America is more vulnerable than Mexico and many Latin American countries, which have a greater capacity to adopt countercyclical policies, “says the report.

Latin America will grow between 3.5 and four percent in 2012 that is two percentage points higher than developed countries and currently available as a region of higher grades of sovereign debt before the start of the global crisis in 2008, according to S & P.

However, the rating agency warns in his study entitled The changing global economic outlook and its impact on Latin America a risk of unexpected change of the current policy framework affecting international trade and capital flows.

According to Standard and Poor’s (S & P), “uncertainty and change characterize the global economy in 2012” with the possible negative impact on emerging markets.

These recent analyzes, the firm adds the risk of “abrupt changes in the rules of the international economic system” that could “affect” the prospects for growth in Latin America.

For the World Economic Forum, there are many examples of countries taking measures that discriminate against foreign firms and products to protect its domestic market.

“The pressures of high unemployment are increasing the demand for protection and stabilization measures of the government. There are several legal forms of protection that can be applied administered through procedures such as those on anti-dumping , countervailing duties and safeguards, “the agency said in its 2010 report on Global Trade Facilities .

Then there is the prospect of many years of hardship and painful reforms in Europe (and to a lesser extent, in the U.S.), which could create an unexpected political backlash, changing the general course of international politics.

“The stagnation would undermine the perception of earnings, a result of increased international economic integration, potentially leading to a backlash in some countries for greater nationalism” they add.

Success stories

For specialists, Brazil is one of the nations in Latin America is turning to protectionism in the economy as a way to revive its growth rate, which rose from 7.5% in 2010 to 2.7% in 2011.

The country has great potential in raw materials and an internal market of 205 million.

The scenario in Latin America may be complicated if the sixth largest economy now decided to close. “There will be a slowdown in world trade will be cut and recovery prospects on a global scale,” according to the analysis of S & P.

France is another example. President Nicolas Sarkozy threatened on Sunday to ignore the European limitations on the issue of protectionism to support his country in an election more than an economic issue.Sarkozy said it was time to support local businesses and stop the uncontrolled flow of immigrants and cheap imports, which demonstrate the lack of protective controls.

He also proposed a European law similar to the Buy American , which would force governments to be in favor of the purchase only of products manufactured in Europe, and said France would begin to apply the rule unilaterally.

“I want a Europe that protects its citizens. I do not want unfettered competition. “

United States has been criticized for its other nation protectionism that violates NAFTA agreements and NAFTA.

Even Mexico has stated that “political restriction” in the U.S. Congress led by the unions, the clause Buy American for the consumption of American products and the tendency of EU to protect their companies, restrict international competition, as an example is the question of the entry of Mexican carriers to U.S. territory.

More anti-dumping

In recent years there is a rise in applications and implementations of the measures dumping (if a company exports a product at a lower price than it normally charges on the market, is said to be dumping ), says the World Economic Forum.

According to the agency, average tariffs in Brazil and Argentina rose three percentage points, due to increases in industrial taxes.

In contrast, there was a marked decrease in the average tariff rate of one to two percentage points in Nigeria, Mexico, Iceland and Ukraine.

According to a study by Norton, who partnered with independent research firm Sperling’s BestPlaces to sort out the locations which are the 10 cities in Latin America that are the most dangerous in the area of cybercrime. Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara, are classified as entities with lowest level in relation to potential risk factors, being classified sites eight, nine and ten, respectively.

Sperling’s BestPlaces determines the classification of the rankings through an analysis based on consumer behavior, taking into account from the costs invested in desktop computers and smartphones, to the potentially risky activities such as accessing WiFi from somewhere unsafe, the use social networking, online shopping or conducting banking operations.

The cities with the highest risk factors does not necessarily correlate with higher rates of infection from viruses or malware , reflecting the fact that many consumers are taking precautions to keep your data safe.

In the case of Mexico, the study is due to the low number of use of smart phones, broadband speed, internet access, number of computers in use WiFi access points and use of social networks.

“In our analysis of the most dangerous cities in line, we considered a number of factors potentially affecting online safety,” said Bert Sperling, founder and researcher of Sperling’s BestPlaces.

“By observing the habits of consumers, and the data obtained by Norton on cybercrime, we are able to provide a holistic view of the various factors that put a person in a situation of risk,” he said.

Despite having received the second lowest in the region in terms of cybercrime, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is located in the middle of the ranking because the scores on factors related to potentially risky behavior of consumers, the use social networking, Internet and WiFi access.

“In recent years, with growth in the adoption of smartphones, tablets and laptops, as well as the emergence of social networks and applications, life online and offline is mixing in a way never before experienced, ” said Marian Merritt, Internet Security attorney Norton.

Europe is no exception

Norton also announced the top ten European cities “most dangerous” on the internet.The list shows that Manchester, England, is the most dangerous for users, followed by Amsterdam, Netherlands.

New Orleans, LA – As BP settles out of court for the first phase of thousands of lawsuits that could cost the company tens of billions of dollars, a large oil sheen near the infamous Macondo 252 well has been spotted.

spotted a large oil sheen near the infamous Macondo 252 well

In September 2011, a large swath of silvery oil sheen was located roughly 19km northeast of the now-capped well.

But now, on February 29, they conducted another over-flight of the area and found a larger area of sea covered in oil sheen in the same location.

Oil trackers with the organisation On Wings of Care, who have been monitoring the new oil since mid-August 2011, have for months found rainbow-tinted slicks and thick silvery globs of oil consistently visible in the area.

“This is the same crescent shaped area of oil and sheen I’ve been seeing here since the middle of last August,” Bonny Schumaker, president and pilot of On Wings of Care, told Al Jazeera while flying over the oil.

Schumaker has logged approximately 500 hours of flight time monitoring the area around the Macondo well, and has flown scientists from NASA, the US Geological Survey (USGS), and oil chemistry scientists to observe conditions resulting from BP’s oil disaster that began in April 2010.

When flown to the area on September 11, 2011, the oil sheen was approximately 25km long and 10 to 50 metres wide, at a location roughly 19km northeast of the Macondo 252 well.

On the recent over flight, the area covered in oil sheen was approximately 35km long, and ranged from 20 to 100 metres wide in approximately the same location. At times, fumes from the oil filled the aircraft, even at an altitude of 350 metres.

Schumaker, a career physicist with NASA who retired in 2011, is deeply concerned because she has spotted oil in the same location now at least 15 times since last August.

Edward Overton, professor emeritus at Louisiana State University‘s environmental sciences department, examined data from oil samples taken from this area last September and confirmed that the oil is from the Macondo reservoir.

Experts believe the oil is likely to be from a seep in the seabed, but there is debate about what caused the seep, as many believe it may well have been caused by BP’s blowout well and the failed attempts to cap it during spring 2010.

He explained that the samples were analysed and compared to “the known Macondo oil fingerprint, and it was a very, very close match”.

While not ruling out the possibility that oil could be seeping out of the giant reservoir, which would be the worst-case scenario, Overton believed the oil currently reaching the surface was probably from oil that was trapped in the damaged rigging on the seafloor.

However, given the fact that the oil sheen has existed in this area since at least as early as August 2010 and is continuing, the likelihood of it being residual oil from the Deep-water Horizon or damaged rigging is now slim.